I could not be more thrilled about joining all the madness, mayhem and fun at Supernova Melbourne April 5-7th and Gold Coast April 12-14th!

To celebrate the festive season, Walker Books Australia have 3 sets of Spark, Stray and Shield up for grabs over the next 3 weeks before Christmas.

It’s been a busy week of author events for me, an exciting NZ Book Council initiative called: Speed Date an Author (held at Nayland College) and two library visits with teen book groups.

A busy and exciting weekend at the Word Christchurch Writers and Readers Festival. The Opening Night Gala, Writers Party, Margaret Mahy Memorial Lecture with David Levithan and the early release of Shield at the Teens In Peril panel session.

Rachael Craw’s YA title Spark has been optioned by New Zealand film company Miss Conception Films, fitting perfectly with their mission to “make films with strong female protagonists”. A perennial favourite among young-adult fiction fans, the gripping action and fast-paced narrative was always perfect for film.

My 6 days in Auckland were jam-packed with visits, meetings and events. I visited 6 schools, delivered 8 talks, lunched with booksellers, attended the New Zealand Book Industry Awards and had a lovely catch up with some author friends.

How could I fail to feel welcome arriving at Richmond Public Library this afternoon when Rachel Lord, the wonderful Librarian for Young Adult Literature had festooned the library with posters galore advertising this week’s Mystery Ink Teen Book Club session?

Oh boy I’ve been so slack updating my news page lately, mostly because I am in the thick of rewriting Shield, book 3 of the Spark trilogy. But I’m here now and it’s been a busy time with a Teen Book Club visit, NZ Book Week AND NZ Bookshop Day shenanigans! All three of these events involved my favourite local indie bookstore Page & Blackmore.

STOP. THE. BUS. people! The most amazing thing has happened. Yesterday the shortlist for the Gold and Silver Inky Awards were announced at the Melbourne Writers Festival and by some miraculous turn of events my wee Spark has made the cut! And you can vote here!